I shut off the game about twenty minutes before it was time for Ethan to fight, and did my switch routine before heading down to the arena to cheer Ethan on. I thought he would like that. I went to sit next to Savannah, and we watched Ethan walk in together. His opponent seemed pretty confident, but I didn't think he could counter Ethan's telekinesis. Ethan looked up to us, and smiled nervously as he waited for the round to start.
I debated on standing up to wave at him, but figured it was probably unnecessary. Ethan was just glad I was there. That was all he needed. He was doing a pretty good job at holding his fear back, but he would have an easier time with me around for the last few rounds. I wanted him to fight on his own.
He'd done that for the most part. Now I wanted to see him fight. I didn't care if I was indulging him a little at the moment. He'd earned it. I watched Ethan brace for a fight.
He was ready when the start sound went off. He used his telekinesis to gouge half a dozen marble sized rocks out of the ground. He used them to defend against the lasers his opponent shot at him. The precise way Ethan moved each, and every marble to intercept each laser had the audience at the edge of their seats. I couldn't help smirking when I focused on Ethan's eyes.
He was hardly trying. He would have won already if he was okay with using his ability on people directly. Ethan sped up his marbles so that they continued to be able to block as he walked calmly towards his opponent. His opponent wasn't nearly as calm. Ethan kept walking forward as if nothing was even happening. Just a nice stroll on a sunny day.
Laser guy was panicking, and started shooting lasers in bulk. Ethan just made more marbles. A fight that was long distance changed to a hand to hand fight. Ethan's superior training showed in the hand to hand exchange. Once Ethan got close the laser guy couldn't get an attack in.
Ethan really did know what he was doing. Even if he wasn't confident enough to act on it. I watched him the laser guy to a pulp as he continued to block any lasers he managed to shoot off in his desperation. Blocking every punch, and kick without needing to look half the time. Anticipating when he would dodge before he he could.
It was a one sided ass kicking from start to finish, and Ethan was the one doing the kicking. I would have laughed if it wasn't so predictably boring. I'd known it would turn out this way if Ethan actually fought back. I yawned in boredom as I was given a sideways look. They were probably wondering how I could be bored watching a fight.
"You knew he would win didn't you?" Savannah leaned over to whisper in my ear.
"Yeah," I smirked, "He just needed someone to kick him out of his fear filled mental state."
Savannah shook her head, and refocused on the match. Ethan was finishing up. His opponent was running out of energy, and Ethan was slowly ramping up his speed. I felt it when he began to draw on my speed.
{Ethan} I snapped at him in his mind {Not here.}
Ethan flinched at the mental shout, and knocked his opponent out with the next hit. Then covered the mark that was slowly forming on his neck. It wouldn't take long for it to fade, but he couldn't just let someone see it. I couldn't just let someone see it. I closed out connection.
Shutting down the flow of energy. Ethan looked more startled by me cutting him off then I did. I waited for the the energy to fade before letting the connection reopen.
{You're good} I relaxed a bit {I fixed the energy so the mark should be gone.}
{Thanks} Ethan responded hesitantly {I should have been more careful.}
{It wasn't your fault} I tried to comfort him mentally {You won't have to worry about that for much longer. I'm not upset with you. You couldn't help it.}
{I could have done better} Ethan was swimming in self doubt now.
{Stop it} I snapped again mentally {You didn't do anything wrong. That was your power to use. You just picked the wrong time to use it. Relax. You'll be able to use it more freely once we leave here.}
{You're sure?} Ethan was still hesitant.
{You can't grow if you're not allowed to make mistakes} I reassured him.
Ethan's mood brightened a little as he left the arena. No one knew that we'd had an entire conversation in less than a minute if it weren't for Ethan's hesitation just then. Ethan sped up as he left the room. He was feeling a little better now that I'd talked to him. What kind of horrible parents would raise him to think that making mistakes weren't allowed?
I rubbed my forehead in frustration.
"What happened?" Savannah whispered to me, "You seemed really tense a minute ago."
"We'll discuss it when we get back to the room," I stood up, and started walking out of the stands.
Some people from the crowd recognized me were really irritated with me. I almost growled at a few people that got really pushy with the insults. Savannah sensed my irritation, and would shove me forward each time I was about to growl. Reminding me of where we were. I wanted to get out of here so bad I could almost taste it.
We went straight back to my room. I went to my room, and switched quickly before coming back into the main area where Savannah was.
"What did you want to explain here?" Savannah was sitting on the couch.
"Ethan," I huffed as I laid down, "He almost used the boost our bond gives him. Then he almost crawled back in his shell because he made a mistake."
"Doesn't that tattoo thing appear when he uses your power?" Savannah asked as she tried to process what I'd just said.
"It's fine," I shook my head, "I cut off our connection before he could bring it out fully. I'm more worried about how he reacted when I stopped him." I crossed my arms in front of me, "He doesn't think he's allowed to fail at all."